


Single Dad School

by linencottonblend



Category: RWBY
Genre: Eventual Romance, Family, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:08:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22532233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/linencottonblend/pseuds/linencottonblend
Summary: Jaune is unexpectedly tasked with caring for Saphron’s children due to Terra getting transferred. Feeling out of his depth, he turns to the only single dad he knows for help, who is more than willing to share his advice. Chapters follow a two-part structure, with the first part being a story from Tai raising Ruby and Yang, and the second following Jaune through a similar situation.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. Prologue: Going Back to School

“Saphron, I’m kinda having second thoughts about this.”

“You’ll be fine, Jaune. It’s two kids, how bad can they be?”

Jaune looked down the hall towards the rooms of the aforementioned children. His sister Saphron’s wife, Terra, had been transferred out to a remote Atlasian base for a year to work on a new communications project. Supposedly, there was some new project to launch a CCT Tower into space. Jaune frankly had no idea why it was necessary, but orders were orders.

While Saphron was happy to go along with Terra, she was heartbroken when she found out there wouldn’t be any schools or childcare facilities at Terra’s new location. After a long chat, the two parents had decided to leave their children, Adrian and Julianne, in the care of their uncle Jaune for the year. Both kids loved him, and the couple was confident he’d be a great caretaker.

…Jaune wasn’t so sure.

“Hey, Terra?” he called out to his sister-in-law, hoping that she might be willing to chat.

“You can handle this. If you need to call me, my scroll number is in the contacts. You better have a good reason if you do, though. Calls to this place from Argus are 5 Lien per minute. And I _know_ you don’t have that kind of money right now.” She let out a soft laugh.

“Don’t remind me,” Jaune said with a groan. After graduating from Beacon Academy, he’d started a business with his three closest friends from school so they could continue to take on Huntsman jobs as a group. Juniper Consulting consisted of himself, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren. The four of them had built up a reputation in Argus thanks to a couple of successful Grimm cleanups they had completed in the area during their final year. Many of the local companies had offered the team of four contracts for work after graduation, and the quartet were happy to continue working together.

Although business was quite good, they were in a snag at the moment, financially speaking. Over the course of their last contract, Pyrrha’s scroll had broken, as had both Nora’s hammer and Ren’s pistols, with the latter needing particularly expensive repairs. To make matters worse, their next contract had fallen through, resulting in them having no paying work until next month. The whole team had significantly slashed their take-home, just to make ends meet. Jaune was barely able to cover essentials on his current compensation, though the fact that he would be housesitting for Saphron and Terra would help.

Terra seemed to sense that she’d hit a nerve, an expression of concern crossing her face. “Hey, Jaune, I’m sorry. You know you can always call me or Saphron at any time. After all, you’re taking care of our children.” She paused. “And I know you already said no, but this placement pays really well. If you want, we’d be happy to help out with finances.”

“Thank you, Terra, but you know I can’t accept that. The childcare reimbursement that the military is paying me is enough, really,” said Jaune. He wouldn’t tell Terra this, but he had another reason for not wanting to accept Terra’s offer. Saphron had mentioned a couple of weeks prior that the couple had recently begun saving for the kids’ education, in case either of them wanted to attend one of the Huntsman Academies. She’d also mentioned how happy she was that Terra’s new job paid well, as it would help tremendously with their savings, and Jaune didn’t want to take away from that.

“Oh, look at my little brother, all grown up and fending for himself,” Saphron said. She quickly grabbed Jaune in a cross between a headlock and a hug. “But you’ll always be my wittle Jaune-Jaune! I’ll miss you!” She began to ruffle Jaune’s hair, ignoring the silent protests of her captive.

Terra stifled a chuckle as she checked her watch. “I hate to break up this family bonding session, but our airship leaves in an hour, dear. We should really be heading off.” Prying Saphron off her brother, she wrapped Jaune in a quick hug of her own. “Thank you again for this, Jaune. I can’t express how much it means to be able to leave Adie and Julie with someone we trust.” Releasing Jaune, she grabbed the two suitcases beside her and headed towards the front door.

“I’ll see you outside, honey,” Saphron said to Terra as she walked past. Turning back to Jaune, she gave him a heartfelt hug. “It’s only a year, Jaune. I _know_ you can do this – you’re one of the most caring people I know, and some days I think Adie and Julie like you more than they like me or Terra. Just trust me on that, okay?”

His sister’s words made Jaune smiled. She was right; he might not have great self-esteem, but Saphron was honest to a fault, so he knew she really meant it when she said she believed in him. “Thanks, Saph. You and Terra have fun out there.”

Saphron snorted in response. “Yep, I’ll be having sooooo much fun, hanging out on this uninhabited island, with no one but the other military spouses to keep me company.” Her expression changed to one of thoughtful contemplation. “To be honest, I think it will be nice. Since most of Terra’s coworkers aren’t very social, it’ll mean the two of us will get to spend a lot of time alone together. With first Adie and then Julie, we haven’t been able to have much time to ourselves in the last few years. It’ll be nice to just be with each other for a while. Almost like an extended second honeymoon.”

Jaune pushed Saphron towards the door. “Alright, that’s enough, you two lovebirds go on and stop bugging me. Have a good time!” He waved to Saphron and Terra as they got onto the harbour-bound streetcar, only shutting the door once the vehicle was out of sight. Leaning against the door, he let out a sigh he’d been holding in since arriving at the Cotta-Arc residence. While he’d expressed some of his concerns to Saphron and Terra, he hadn’t let on just how unprepared he felt for the task of, in essence, parenting two kids.

 _I have no clue how to take care of children. I need a textbook…or better yet, a teacher. Who do I know that could help me with this?_ His mind quickly began to filter through his list of friends. _Pyrrha would probably be amazing with kids, but I always feel like she’s so good at things because she does what works for her, which might not work for me; I don’t think she’d be the best person to learn from for this. Ren and Nora would make a good team, as usual, but I don’t think either of them would be all that great with kids on their own. Plus, Nora would be too busy teasing me to help._

 _Team RWBY is travelling right now, so none of them are available…plus, Ruby would probably just suggest giving them cookies, and Yang would suggest taking them to the gym._ The thought of the two sisters trying to take care of Adrian and Julianne brought a smile to his face. _Ruby and Yang must have been a real handful to raise themselves…”_

An idea suddenly popped into his head. Pulling out his phone, he scrolled to the bottom of his contacts list.

* * *

“One of the most important things about combat is knowing what works for you. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses; your personal fighting style should emphasize the former and conceal the latter.” Tai stated, flipping to the next slide, which showed a video of Ruby in combat. “Take my daughters, Ruby and Yang, as examples. Ruby’s biggest strength is her speed, but she needs to take some time when she’s taking a shot, since her gun is actually a rifle. With that in mind, she’ll only take a shot from range if her opponent hasn’t noticed her, or from up close if she’s already disoriented her opponent with her speed. On occasion, she’ll spend a few seconds just dashing around without attacking until her opponent lunges out and misses. Once that happens a couple of times, her opponents will become hesitant to attack, because they think she’ll just dodge them again. That gives her the extra couple of seconds she needs to line up a shot.”

Tai crossed the front of the classroom, giving a good-natured smile to some of the students in the first few rows that seemed particularly attentive. He always enjoyed giving this lecture, since he got a chance to talk about Yang and Ruby. Additionally, seeing the students begin to find their own fighting styles was a pure joy; it was one of the few ways a young Huntsman- or Huntress-in-training could express their individuality in the course of their studies. He changed slides again, with the next slide showing footage of Yang fighting.

“Yang, on the other hand, takes a little more after me, with her close-quarters combat being her biggest asset. However, while she does have some ranged tools, she isn’t nearly as strong at a distance as most of the opponents she fights against, apart from some weaker Grimm. She makes it a priority to close space as quickly as possible at the start of a fight. Once she’s gotten inside her opponent’s range, she’ll constantly keep an eye on any moves her opponent could make to create more space, since she knows that’s what her opponent will be looking for. By proactively cutting off potential escape routes, she can really get inside her opponent’s head, often forcing them to make rash attacks.”

Noticing the clock on the wall, he quickly began to wrap up. “As a bonus, this strategy also works well in tandem with her semblance. Next class, we’ll talk more about how to incorporate your semblance into your personal fighting style. Thank you for your attention.” As he finished, the class bell rang, signifying the end of class. An idea occurred to Tai as he began to pack up his supplies; perhaps he should ask Ruby and Yang to come in and have a duel in front of the class. It would be beneficial for the students to see two graduated Huntresses trying to enforce their fighting styles on each other, and he knew Ruby and Yang would never turn down a chance to have a friendly spar. Sensing he wasn’t alone, he looked up to see a slight boy and a mousey girl standing in front of her.

Tai stepped around the lecture podium and leaned against it, giving his full attention to the two students in front of him. “Hi, Lea, Darr. What can I do for you two?”

The two exchanged nervous glances, before Darr began to speak. “Um, Professor Xiao Long? At the end of class, you mentioned that next class, we’d be talking about incorporating our semblances into our fighting styles. However, um…” Darr stopped speaking and looked down.

Lea stepped forward, placing her hand on Darr’s shoulder. “Neither of us have any idea of what our semblances are, and we’re both kind of worried, because it seems like almost everyone in the class has already begun using their semblances in battle.”

Tai smiled at the two, already having an idea of how to make the pair feel better. “You know, a close friend of Ruby’s actually didn’t find out what his semblance was until his third year at Beacon. And the headmaster there chose him to lead a team with some of the strongest students in attendance. Have you two heard of Pyrrha Nikos?” Both students nodded. “Well, she was on his team. And he was still able to lead a team with people that strong on it, even without a semblance. He even fought in the Battle of Beacon.” Seeing Lea’s eyes widen at the mention of the battle, he paused as he searched for the right words. “While your semblance is an important part of who you will become as a Huntman or Huntress, you don’t have to worry about when you unlock it. It will happen when it happens, and you can accomplish plenty of amazing things in the meantime.”

After reassuring the students that the next lecture would focus on more than just semblances, Tai waved to Darr as him and Lea left the classroom. Feeling a vibration, Tai pulled out his scroll, slightly surprised at the name he saw. _Speak of the devil_ , he thought to himself as he answered. “Hi, Jaune. I was just telling a couple of students about you! What’s up?”

_You were telling students about me? What were-never mind, I don’t want to know. Anyways, I’m in a bit of a…situation…here and could use some advice. Would you be willing to sit down for a phone call or something in the next few days?_

“Of course, Jaune. I’m teaching for the rest of the week, but I’m actually in Argus this weekend for a wedding, so we can meet for a coffee. What do you need advice with?” Tai asked.

_Um…I’d rather explain it in person. But thanks! I really appreciate it._

Tai pondered the situation as he hung up after confirming which day they would meet. While Jaune had matured quite a bit from the awkward boy he’d been when he’d first met Tai, midway through his first year at Beacon, he still wasn’t the type to ask for help unless he really needed it. What could have prompted Jaune to call him, of all people, out of the blue for help?

* * *

Tai took a small sip of his coffee and placed it back down, eyes meeting Jaune’s with a hint of mirth. “So, Jaune, I’m curious as to why you need my help. It appears you’ve gotten yourself… _Tai-ed_ up in something.” He gave Jaune a smirk that would have looked just as fitting on his older daughter, prompting a groan from Jaune.

“I suppose I’ll need to learn to like jokes like that. You see, I kinda need to…learn how to take care of kids.”

Tai almost spit out his coffee. “Wait, what? You have kids? Did you and Py-“

“Oh, no, I-they aren’t _my_ kids.” Jaune replied. “No, I’m taking care of my sister’s children. Her wife got posted to a remote base for a year and they’re going together, so they need someone to watch the kids. While I get along with her children just fine, I’m not exactly experienced in taking care of them by myself, outside of the odd night of babysitting. Seeing as you managed to raise both Yang and Ruby on your own, I figured you might be a good person to ask for advice. Sorry, were you saying something?”

 _Ah, that makes much more sense,_ Tai thought to himself. _For a second there, I thought he’d finally picked up on that._ “No, nothing at all. I’d be happy to give you some guidance. Let’s see, where to begin…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying my hand at something different here! I’ve always found the idea of Tai raising Ruby and Yang to be interesting – it’s so cool to have a caring single dad raising girls represented in media. As mentioned in the description, I plan on doing the chapters in “mirrored” parts – Tai teaching Jaune a lesson (which will act as a theme), then Jaune having to apply it. Each chapter will be a mostly self-contained story, although there will be some overarching plotlines. Hopefully you’ll see what I mean in the next few chapters. It’s a bit of a concept piece, but I’m hopeful it’ll work out! I'll try my best to post regularly on Sundays.
> 
> For this story, everyone (including Adrian and Julianne) is a few years older than in V6. While this is primarily a comedy and family piece, that doesn’t mean that all of the chapters will match this exactly. Some of the stories will have more dramatic tones, and there might be sprinkles of other genres throughout, but I do intend to keep the piece as a whole lighthearted.
> 
> Thanks for your support! See you next week!
> 
> \--Linen


	2. Finding Some Help

“…I guess the first thing I would say is that you shouldn’t be doing it all alone,” said Tai. “Is your team from Beacon still in town?”

“Yeah, the four of us actually started a business together,” Jaune replied. “The last couple of weeks have been a little rough, but otherwise, things have been great.”

Tai smiled in response. “That’s great to hear. While you shouldn’t be asking them to do all the work for you, having a solid support network can make a big difference…

* * *

“Ruby! Where on Remnant could she have gone? We’ve been looking for over half an hour.” Tai said to no one in particular as he pushed his way through a particularly thick bush. In hindsight, playing hide and seek with his two children in the Patch forest may not have been the best idea. _Especially_ when one of those children had a semblance that granted her incredible speed.

“Ruby!” Yang called out from beside her dad. Luckily for Tai, he had been able to find Yang quite easily. Even though she had chosen a good hiding spot up in the branches of a rather leafy tree, her hair stood out particularly well against the green and brown colors of the forest. He had considered offering her some sort of cap to keep her hair hidden. However, he knew she’d never wear it; Yang loved her hair more than life itself.

“I’m telling you, Tai, you’re going about this all wrong.” Qrow chirped from behind the father-daughter pair, having chosen to watch the rest of the family play rather than join the game before being recruited into the impromptu search party. “You’ll never find her if you’re looking for her. You have to make her come to you.”

In frustration, Tai whirled on his ex-brother-in-law. “Well, how would you suggest going about finding her, bird brain?”

“Oooh, spicy. And I thought the Yang was supposed to be the fiery one. Speaking of which, Firecracker, I don’t think that’s how you’re supposed to ask people for help, is it?” He directed the question towards Yang herself, who shook her head. “Dad says that you should always use the magic word when you’re asking people for help, or they won’t want to help you!” Nodding at Yang, Qrow gave Tai a knowing smile. “Well, Tai? You heard her. What’s the magic word?”

Tai rolled his eyes, before giving Qrow a glare that looked like a carbon copy of Raven’s. “Qrow, would you please help me find Ruby? I would really appreciate it.” He forced out the words through gritted teeth.

Qrow smirked as he held up a hand to Yang, who gave it an enthusiastic high five; she seemed oblivious to the subtext of the conversation between her father and uncle. “Was that so hard? That’s much better. Now, Firecracker, what can you think of that would make your sister come running to you faster than the wind?”

Yang thought for a second, before clapping her hands in delight. “Cookies!”

Qrow raised his voice slightly. “Good job. Cookies! Now, what kind of cookies does she like?”

Catching on to Qrow’s idea, Yang responded by talking even louder. “She really likes chocolate chip, they’re her favorite. Especially right when they come out of the oven! When the cookies are still hot, and the chocolate chips are still melted!”

Ruffling her hair good-naturedly, Qrow turned to Tai. “I think she’s smarter than you already. Now, turn around.”

Tai turned to notice Ruby standing behind him, seemingly having appeared out of nowhere. She swayed slightly from side to side, with her hands behind her back and a hint of puppy dog eyes in her expression. “Um, I know I’m supposed to be hiding from you, but…I think I heard Yang mention chocolate chip cookies?”

* * *

“…as much of a snarky pain in the butt he can be, without Qrow, things might have ended up a lot worse. That was when Ruby was 7 and Yang was 9. The semblances can be problematic to deal with at first - how old are your sister’s kids?” Tai asked.

“I think Adrian is 7, and Julianne is about a year younger, which would make her 6.” Jaune replied. “As you know, I was a bit of a late bloomer when it came to unlocking my semblance, so I don’t know much about how it usually works. Do you think either of them would know about theirs?”

“That’s just a little earlier than the age most kids unlock their semblances, which is 8. That being said, it varies from person to person, something you’re well aware of. Julianne probably wouldn’t, but there’s a chance Adrian might. He could also unlock it some time in the next year. It’s possible that both of them could unlock their Semblances while you’re taking care of them. I wouldn’t say that’s very likely, though…”

* * *

“I wouldn’t say that’s very likely, though. Hah.” Jaune muttered to himself in a bad impression of Tai’s voice as he pulled a small metal sliver out from his foot. High likelihood occurrence or not, Adrian and Julianne had indeed both unlocked their semblances while in Jaune’s care. Furthermore, it had happened on the same day.

Apparently, Adrian’s semblance was being able to freeze anything he touched, while Julianne’s semblance allowed her to turn objects to pure iron. Naturally, upon discovering their semblances, the first thing the siblings had tried to do was combine them. Unfortunately, while Adrian’s semblance protected him from the cold, Julianne’s did not. She ended up dropping the vase they had chosen to experiment on as soon as Adrian froze it.

…Jaune had returned home from work to find the siblings in the center of the living room, surrounded by sharp pieces of metal.

“Seriously, Pyr, I cannot thank you enough for this,” he said to Pyrrha as she removed a diamond-shaped shard that had somehow embedded itself in the room’s ceiling with her semblance. “You too, Ren and Nora. I have no clue how I would deal with this on my own.”

“Really, Jaune, it’s no problem at all.” Pyrrha responded as she moved the piece into a recycling container, where it joined hundreds of similar pieces. “I’m just astounded that both Adie and Julie unlocked their semblances on the same day.”

“Tell me about it.” Jaune moaned. Following Tai’s advice, he’d asked Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren if they would all be willing to help him out with the kids from time to time. While they’d all agreed happily, he hadn’t expected to need their help quite so soon; it had been less than a week since Saphron and Terra had left.

“We’re sorry, Uncle Jaune,” said Adrian. “We should have waited for you to get home before doing anything with our semblances.”

Jaune sighed softly. “It’s okay, I understand; you two were excited. You’re right though, it’s dangerous to be using your Semblances for the first time without an adult around.” He gave the children a small smile. “I’m just glad the two of you weren’t hurt. Once we get this all cleaned up, we can go play with our Semblances in the backyard. Does that sound good?”

“Yeah!” replied Julianne happily. “Can Auntie Pyrrha come play with us too? I want to see what our Semblances can do together!”

Jaune gave a questioning look to Pyrrha, who seemed happy to receive the invitation. “I think that’s a great idea, Julie,” she said. Amid the cheers of the two children, she turned back to Jaune. “It’s still hard for me to believe that the two of them unlocked their semblances on the same day,” she said. “I can’t help but think there’s something more to it than just coincidence.”

“I remember Ruby mentioning that her and Yang unlocked their semblances on the same day!” Nora chimed from the corner of the room, throwing a few pieces of iron into the bag Ren was holding open. “Maybe being siblings has something to do with it?” She looked towards Ren inquisitively.

Ren tilted his head thoughtfully as he tied up the bag. “It’s possible. I’ve heard that children with strong bonds tend to unlock their semblances around the same time.”

“Yes, that’s all well and good, but I really wish that they could have waited until after I’d had a little time to get used to being their caretaker,” Jaune said, drawing laughs from his companions. Truthfully, he didn’t mind the extra work, since he had his friends there to help him. 

* * *

“…yeah, what are the odds of that happening?” Jaune laughed as he replied. “That would be pretty crazy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully you all have a better idea of how the story will look from here on out! Tai’s chapters will be set a few years in the past from the present day, while Jaune’s will be a few weeks or months in the future. Most chapters will follow the same format. What do you all think of this style? Any recommendations to improve it?
> 
> Thanks for your support! See you next week!
> 
> \--Linen


	3. Bonding Activities

“Oh, another important thing is to find activities to do together with them.” Tai said. “Naturally, it’s difficult to find something where you are all around the same skill level, since you’re so much older than them and have more experience with things like games and sports. But you might find one or two activities where you’ll feel like the kid…

* * *

“I played the older version of this game when I was younger,” Tai said as he popped the game disc for _Maiden Duel 6_ into the girls’ brand new game console. It was Christmas afternoon; the presents had been opened, the stockings had been emptied, and now it was time for the kids to put their gifts to good use.

Tai had been saving for the previous two months to afford the console. After all, his postdoc stipend wasn’t exactly generous, and he needed to save what he could for the girls’ educations. But ever since Ruby had pointed out this particular console to Yang in the weekly flyer, he’d done anything he could to get one. It hadn’t been easy, since the console was the hottest gift of the season. Tai had to wait out in the cold at 4 am the week before, outside the local game store, and he still only got the third last console that had arrived that day.

Seeing the smiles on his girls’ faces made it all worth it.

“Really! Wow, what were video games like when you were a kid?” Ruby asked as she climbed up beside her dad on the couch.

“Mostly the same. But the graphics in games these days are much better,” Tai said as he handed one of the controllers to Yang. “I was the best person I knew when it came to _Maiden Duel._ Me and your Uncle Qrow would play _Maiden Duel 3_ during our spare periods in Beacon – I definitely won more often.”

“I bet you aren’t better than me!” Yang said as she hopped up on Tai’s other side. “I played that one with Uncle Qrow last time I was at his house, and I beat him ten times in a row!”

 _She’s got to be exaggerating,_ Tai thought to himself. _Qrow was pretty good at this game, so there’s no way she actually beat him that many times. He probably just let her win once and she let it go to her head._ “Well, if you think you’re such an expert, why don’t the two of you team up against me?” Tai said with a teasing grin. “Here, let me set it up for you.” After booting up the game, he grabbed the other controller, selected “Options”, and began tweaking the settings. “There, now you two have two lives, and I only have one. Yang, when you die, you can hand the controller off to Ruby, and she can keep playing against me. Sound good?”

“Ugh, stop talking and let’s fight, dad!”

Tai smiled to himself. This should be easy.

…

_Game, Set!_

Tai looked down at the controller in his hands helplessly. Yang had just beaten him for the fifth time in a row – all without dropping a single round.

_I thought that Spring had a good matchup against Fall…what happened?_

Noticing a tapping on his shoulder, Tai turned to see Ruby giving him a concerned look. “Hey, dad, did you mean to give Yang the controller with one life? Cause I really want to play, but I haven’t gotten a chance to yet, since she keeps beating you. I know she’s really good at this game, but if the two of us work together, I’m sure we can beat her!”

Tai looked at his two daughters in turn: first Ruby’s earnest expression of hope, then Yang’s smirk of victory.

Allowing himself a humbled smile, he quickly swapped his controller with Yang’s. “I think you’re right, Ruby! She’s powerful, but with our combined strength, the two of us are totally strong enough to win!”

* * *

“Yang beat us another 10 times in a row after that,” Tai said with a laugh. “She’s very talented when it comes to _Maiden Duel_ – it’s worth playing against her if you ever get the chance. Ruby’s gotten quite good as well, I’d say she’s better than me now.”

“I think we played that game back at Beacon,” Jaune mused to himself. “Nora would practice all the time, but Pyrrha would always beat her, even though she didn’t play nearly as much. It’s incredible how talented she is at, well, everything. For some reason, though, she’d always lose to me whenever the two of us played. I wonder why?”

 _She was probably distracted by something she liked_ , Tai thought to himself. Even he’d been able to pick up on Pyrrha’s feelings in the limited time he spent around the two of them. In all fairness, he couldn’t give Jaune too much flak for his obliviousness when it came to Pyrrha. Raven had basically dragged him out on multiple dates before he noticed her interest, and things with Summer hadn’t been much different. Tai had gotten lucky enough to have both the women he loved eventually express their interest directly; he could only hope that for Jaune’s sake, Pyrrha would, in due time, do the same. _Goodness knows he won’t._ “I’m not sure, Jaune. But back to the matter at hand – do you know of any activities that Adrian and Julianne enjoy doing?”

“Well, I’ve seen the two of them go out on their bikes from time to time. Maybe I could go with them,” Jaune said. “I know that Saphron would go with them sometimes, so I could probably borrow her bike.”

* * *

_Bad idea, Jaune. Baaaad idea._ Jaune thought to himself as the ache in his back progressively got worse. He hadn’t accounted for the fact that Saphron was both lighter and shorter than him, with a smaller bike to match. Adjusting to her bike had been…a challenge, to say the least. _I’m going to feel this tomorrow._

“Come on, Uncle Jaune, we’re waiting for you!” Adrian called from the next block. Him and Julianne had initially slowed down to accommodate Jaune learning to use Saphron’s bike. However, the kids were used to going at a much faster pace and had eventually grown bored of waiting for the adult to catch up. They’d made a game of racing each other to the end of the next block, followed by calling out to Jaune while they waited for him. When he caught up, they’d race off to the next block.

Pedalling through the neighborhood, Jaune took a moment to admire his surroundings. Spring was just beginning in Mistral, and Argus had changed to reflect the new season. Flowers were beginning to bloom on many of the trees that lined the streets, mostly in shades of white and yellow. Many young couples had taken to walking in the warm spring air; Jaune had counted no fewer than 6 strollers in the short time he’d been out biking. It seemed like Argus was quite a popular place to start a family.

“Let’s go, Uncle Jaune! We’re tied, and I want to see who’s faster! But we can’t start until you get here!” Julianne cried from down the street. Hearing her call, Jaune shook his head to clear his thoughts and pedalled faster. In addition to the small frame, another problem he’d found with Saphron’s bike is that the pedals were placed in a position for someone with shorter legs than his. Since he had to bend over quite a bit to properly grab the handlebars, he’d often end up having to bring his knees up into his stomach while pedalling. _If the contract for that group from Solitas works out, the first thing I’m doing is buying a bigger bike…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk, do postdocs exist in the RWBY universe? Tai’s a professor in the present, so I’m assuming he had to get some experience before that. Something about Tai raising Ruby and Yang on a shoestring budget and still doing his best to make sure they were well taken care of just makes sense to me. Maiden Fighter isn’t based on any particular fighting game, though the ‘Game, Set!’ is taken from Yang’s astral finish (instant kill) in Blazblue Cross Tag Battle.
> 
> For Jaune’s part, since Argus is based on San Francisco, I looked up what kind of trees were planted in the streets there. Bronze Loquats, Grecian Laurels, and Jacarandas are the three types of trees I could find that had flowers bloom in the spring, so I made sure the flower colors I described lined up with flowers you could actually expect to see at that time of year.
> 
> Writing the story is making me want to be a stay-at-home parent, lol. Thanks for your support! See you next week!
> 
> \--Linen


	4. Basic Misconceptions

“It’s easy to forget when we’re older, but there are a lot of things that we just assume everyone understands about the world.” Tai took a small sip of his coffee. “Thing is, kids are still learning about those basic things we take for granted. It’s important to keep in mind that they may have a different understanding of certain words and activities than you do.”

He grimaced. “For example, the first time I had to take Yang for a haircut…”

* * *

“Daaaaaaad!” Yang cried from the salon chair, using her arms to keep the hairdresser at a distance. “She’s gonna cut my haiiiir, make her stooooooooop!”

Tai gave the hair stylist a nervous smile, mentally calculating the tip to give her afterwards – whether she deserved one or not was already decided. From the second she’d come through the door, Yang had been making a ruckus. He was just happy he hadn’t brought Ruby along; she was at the age where she copied Yang in every way, so if Yang was making noise, it was a safe bet that Ruby would be as well.

“What would she like done today?” The hairdresser deftly dodged Yang’s flailing arm as she gestured towards the pictures of sample hairstyles shown on the wall. “I’ll hazard a guess that she doesn’t want it cut short?”

“Just a trim, thanks.” Tai walked forward, placing his hand softly on Yang’s shoulder. “Hey, little dragon, what’s the matter?

Yang stopped moving. Noticing her expression in the salon mirror, Tai had to stifle a chuckle as he saw the pout on Yang’s face; although Ruby was the queen of pouting, Yang was certainly earning herself the title of pouting princess at the moment. The sisterly resemblance was beyond obvious.

“I don’t need a haircut.” As if her expression wasn’t enough, Yang crossed her arms and sank down further into the salon chair. “I don’t _want_ a haircut.”

“Why not?”

Yang looked out of the corner of her eye towards the hairdresser. Picking up on the cue, Tai turned towards her. “Sorry to be a bother, but could you leave us alone for a couple of minutes?” In response, the hairdresser nodded her head and walked towards the back of the salon. A jaguar’s tail swung behind her as she stepped into the back office.

“We’re alone now, do you think you can tell me what’s wrong?” Tai spun Yang’s chair around to face him; he’d always wanted to do that.

“I’m worried…I won’t look like me.”

 _Huh?_ “What do you mean?”

“Well, there was this girl at school who said she got a haircut, and when she came back, I couldn’t even recognize her!”

Tai smiled as he realized what Yang was thinking. “Do you remember last week, when I went to get the groceries?” She nodded. “Well, I got my hair cut at the same time."

Her eyes widened. “Really? But you look almost the same! I thought if you got a haircut, you wouldn’t have any hair left!”

 _Ouch._ Tai winched slightly at the small blow to his pride, but he persisted. “Well, getting a haircut doesn’t have to be a big change. Sometimes it’s only a little bit. Can I see your hair for a second?” Reluctantly, she held up a few strands. Tai pointed to one of the split ends. “See this? It’s what happens when you go too long without getting your hair cut.” Seeing an expression of worry appear on Yang’s face, he quickly moved to allay her fears. “It’s okay! We can fix it.”

Reaching towards the salon counter, he grabbed a comb and a pair of scissors. “Now, I need you to close your eyes for a sec. Can you do that for me?” Yang closed her eyes. “Okay. Now, I’m gonna count down, and then I’m going to fix your hair. Are you ready?” She nodded, clearly nervous. “Good girl. Now, 5, 4…” He clipped the hair with the split end, keeping it as long as possible. “…there, all done.”

“What? But you didn’t finish counting!” Yang’s now open eyes alighted on her split-end-free hair. “But…it didn’t hurt.”

“Sweetie, getting your hair cut isn’t doesn’t hurt.”

“But it hurts when it gets pulled! Why does it not hurt to get it cut?”

 _That’s…actually pretty logical, considering her age._ “I’ll explain when we get home. Now that you know it won’t hurt, and that you’ll still look like yourself, are you ready to see the stylist again?”

“Um….”

* * *

“It’s funny how a little misunderstanding about a word can cause so much worry,” Tai said. “She was around 5 at that time; it happened less as she got older and read more, so I assume Adrian and Julianne will be less prone to that kind of thing. That day, even after I explained that a haircut didn’t necessarily mean you would be losing a lot of your hair, she still wasn’t comfortable with getting a trim at the salon, since she didn’t know the hairdresser. I ended up taking her home and trimming it myself; I learned how from online videos. She seemed far more comfortable with that, even though I wasn’t as good at it as the stylist.”

He leaned back from the table, sighing as he did so. “That’s another thing you’ll learn – as time goes on, you’ll find things where you’re the only one they’ll fully trust, regardless of your skill. I think…Yang letting me cut her hair was one of the first times it really sunk in just how much she trusted me.”

“Well, the kids seem to have a pretty good understanding of the things they learn about in school, at least.” Jaune stirred his coffee nonchalantly. “Adrian reads well above his grade level, and Julianne is top of her class in math. That being said, they are both still pretty young, so I could see them having some ideas about the world that aren’t quite right.”

“Hmmm…what about social understanding? Things like relationships and emotions.”

“To be honest, I’m not sure.”

* * *

“Uncle Jaune, how did you and Auntie Pyrrha meet?”

Both Jaune and Pyrrha looked up from their respective laptops. The latest contract they’d received was in a remote part of Solitas they’d never visited before, so the team had split up to do background research. Ren and Nora were using the office, so Jaune and Pyrrha decided to work at the Cotta-Arc residence.

“Well, Julie, we first met during our first day at Beacon. I actually tried to ask her out!” Jaune laughed at the thought. “But we didn’t really get to know each other until initiation.”

“You know, I don’t think I ever got a chance to answer you; Weiss cut me off.” Pyrrha replied softly. _If I knew what I knew now…I would have said yes._ “Our initiation was the next day, and during that we ended up as partners.”

“Ended up? She saved my life two minutes after initiation started! She also unlocked my aura, and, well…she’s been saving my life ever since.” Jaune gave Pyrrha a grateful smile before resuming the story. “Our first night as partners was pretty awkward.” He put a hand on the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Yes, sharing a bed was hardly part of what I’d envisioned my time at Beacon to be like.” Both Jaune and Pyrrha chuckled at the memory; due to a small logistical issue with the administrative office, they’d only had two beds in their room. While both Pyrrha and Jaune thought it would be more logical for them team to split up by gender, Nora (and Ren by extension) were far more comfortable sticking together. After losing a hotly contested game of _Maiden Fighter_ _8_ , Jaune and Pyrrha had fought over who would take the floor, as both insisted that the other should take the bed. Eventually, since neither party showed any signs of relenting by the time curfew rolled around, they’d eventually agreed to split the bed for the night.

“Auntie Pyrrha?” The woman in question turned towards Adrian. “If you and Uncle Jaune fell asleep in the same room, why aren’t you two parents?”

“I…I…what?” Pyrrha’s face turned redder than her hair as she spluttered out a few words.

“Yeah! I heard from one of the kids at school say that if two adults fall asleep in the same room, they become parents!”

Pyrrha’s face, if possible, turned even redder. Noticing her situation, Jaune stepped in to clarify. “No, no! Not like that! Uncle Ren and Auntie Nora were in the same room!” It took about three seconds before Jaune realized that his statement didn’t really make the kids’ perception of the events any better. Taking a second to compose himself, he attempted to explain once more. “I mean, we were just sleeping in the same room. Like how you and Julie sleep in the same room. That’s not how adults become parents.”

“But then how do adults become parents, Uncle Jaune?”

 _Oh no._ Feeling trapped, Jaune’s eyes darted between the two expectant children sitting before him and his partner, who currently resembled a tomato and was clearly in no state to speak. _This isn’t what I signed up for…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Misunderstandings, awkwardness, and just a tiny hint of angst. To me, I don’t really like the idea of Pyrrha falling for Jaune the instant they met; rather, I like to imagine that Jaune’s growth as a person and the way he supported her through the end for V3 is what caused Pyrrha’s infatuation (of course, with this being an AU where the darker events of V3 didn’t happen). 
> 
> What misconceptions about the world did you all have when you were younger? When I was younger, one time I was crying about something really inconsequential, and my dad said I should “save my tears” – clearly, he just meant it figuratively, but I took it to mean that my body had a limited amount of tears for my whole life, and that if I didn’t stop crying, I would “run out” when I got older. I was sooooo scared about it…
> 
> As always, thanks for your support and kind words! See you next week!
> 
> \--Linen


	5. A Reason For Everything

“Er, Tai?”

“Yes, Jaune?”

“How did you deal with Ruby and Yang asking you for things you couldn’t give them? Or to let you do things that you couldn’t let them do?”

Tai pondered the question. It was a good one; he wanted to make sure he gave Jaune an equally good answer. “I think the most important thing for me was learning to tell the difference between things I couldn’t support, and things I didn’t want to support. Telling the difference usually came down to finding a reason why I was reluctant. Eventually, I started to make sure I gave them a legitimate reason for every request they made.”

He chuckled. “I think it kept me accountable as a parent. If I couldn’t give them a reason, it forced me to reflect on why I was really saying no. Was it just because something would be more work for me, as opposed to actually being a bad thing for the kids? I can think of one time that was the case…”

* * *

“Dad, I want ice cream!”

“No, Yang, we can’t get ice cream.”

“But daaaaaaad…. hey, Rubes, they have cookies and cream!”

“Really? Oh, please dad, pretty, pretty please, with a cherry on top?”

Tai stopped himself from letting out a sigh as he turned from his eldest daughter to his youngest. After an exhausting day at work, he’d decided to change up his routine by bringing along Ruby and Yang with him while grocery shopping. What he hadn’t counted on was Ruby and Yang being particularly excited about the various unhealthy options littered throughout the store. The layout of the building wasn’t doing him any favours; he had to walk through the baked desserts section to get to the bread, and the frozen desserts were between that and the vegetables. _Maybe they lay it out this way on purpose…_

Looking back and forth between Ruby and Yang, he began to repeat the same lecture he’d given when Ruby had asked for cookies. “Girls, it’s important to be healthy. You two both want to be huntresses, right?”

Both girls nodded vigorously.

“Right. Well, to be a huntress, you have to be in good shape. You can’t beat a Grimm if you can’t outrun it; since they are bigger and stronger than you, your best chance to beat them is to be faster than them. Do you two agree?”

Two nods of agreement.

“Yeah. And a big part of being in good shape is making sure that you’re putting the right things in your body. Of course, you can have unhealthy things sometimes, but you shouldn’t do it too often.”

“But dad, Uncle Qrow is always drinking that juice you said is really bad for us, and he’s a really good huntsman, right?” Ruby’s voice was full of hope.

 _Ugh, I know he’s your uncle, but_ please _don’t use him as a role model in this area._ “Yes, but Uncle Qrow only started doing that once he’d been working for a few years. Once you’re a licensed huntsman or huntress, you have a better understanding of your own health.”

“Okay, dad.” The disappointment in Yang’s voice was palpable. Tai hated to leave things like this, but he didn’t feel like he could explain Qrow’s situation any further in the middle of a grocery store. As he walked out of the store, he began to think about how he could approach the topic.

He was still lost in thought when Ruby suddenly grabbed his hand. “Dad, look! They’re having an adoption fair! Look at all the puppies! Can we go look at them?”

Reflexively, he shook his head; he was still thinking about the earlier conversation. “No, we can’t.”

“But why?”

Something about Yang’s tone shook Tai out of his thoughts. Her voice sounded…sad, but also confused. At that point, he realized that he’d answered every single question the girls had asked that day with a firm no. With that thought, he decided to give Ruby’s question a second look.

 _Well, a pet would be another strain on the budget. But I don’t think it would be all that much…the store has those huge bags that are on sale pretty often. What about room? I guess we could make the space; there’s that little nook in the living room. I’d have to teach the girls how to take care of a pet…_ he took a second to look at the faces of his daughters… _they seem like they’d be willing to put in the work._

_Well, Summer did always say she wanted a dog…_

“Sure, why not? Let’s go take a look.”

* * *

“You’ve met Zwei, of course. He’s been such a great influence on all of our lives, and I’m so happy he’s with us. But I don’t think that would have happened if I didn’t genuinely ask myself what my reason for say no to Ruby was.” Tai smiled fondly. “I’m very glad I did.”

“Yeah, both Ruby and Yang have talked about how much Zwei means to them, and Yang even talked about how she thought taking care of Zwei made her a better older sister to Ruby. It’s incredible to think how that might not have happened.” Jaune pursed his lips. “Honestly, though, while I appreciate you telling me about that, I don’t know how much that advice applies to me. Since Adrian and Julianne are Saphron’s kids, not mine, I don’t think I’d feel comfortable making that sort of decision for them, nor would I feel okay with trying to explain to them why it wasn’t a good idea. Maybe if they were my own kids, I’d feel differently.”

Tai nodded, agreeing with Jaune’s point. “True. But explaining your choices isn’t limited to big, life-changing decisions. Even just explaining a little thing like if you’ll let them play in the rain can go a long way towards making them trust you.”

* * *

“Rawr! I’m a big, bad, Grimm! I’m coming to destroy this peaceful village!”

“Not if I stop you! And I will! Because I’m a huntress!”

The sight of the two kids playing put a smile on Jaune’s face, a rarity in the past few days. It was a Saturday, and the three of them had just finished eating dinner together. It had become a tradition of sorts for the two kids to play together afterwards, while Jaune sat at the kitchen table, doing something or the other on his scroll. Today, he was scrolling though an exhaustive list of cold-weather gear.

After his team had pooled together their research on their next contract location, they’d found that, among other things, the area of Solitas they would be headed to was one of the coldest areas in the entire continent. All four of them had agreed that they would all need warmer outfits, so Jaune had texted Coco, guessing she’d know where to find clothes in the area. He’d received a near-instantaneous reply with more stores than he’d thought existed in the entirety of Mistral.

Frankly, he’d been stressing out a lot about the journey; it would be the team’s first contract outside the immediate vicinity of Argus, in an entirely new area. Although he trusted the rest of his team would prove more than capable during the trip, his self-doubt had plagued his thoughts, telling him that he would mess up and cause his team harm. It had gotten bad enough that he’d been having trouble sleeping.

As such, he’d taken to the task of picking out new jackets for the team with far more gusto than the activity merited. Did he _need_ to put so much effort into finding the perfect parka? No, but that hadn’t stopped him from reading dozens of reviews on a jacket which, if he was being honest with himself, he’d already decided on buying about 50 clicks ago. It was a much-needed distraction, although it wasn’t doing him much good.

“Uncle Jaune, can we go to the park? We’re going to play Grimm and Hunters!”

He looked up to see Adrian standing in front of him, holding a plastic Grimm mask. Behind him, Julianne held a foam sword and shield.

Jaune frowned uncertainly. He’d read an article earlier about a small spree of crime happening in the area, so he wasn’t entirely comfortable letting the kids go out to play on their own.

“Sorry, I don’t think so, it’s too late out.”

“What if you come with us?”

“I can’t, I have work.” _As if this is anything more than just something to keep busy._

“But you can work later!”

“I really need to get this done today.”

“Maybe if we help, you can get finished faster!”

The genuineness in Julianne’s voice grabbed Jaune’s attention. It seemed like she was really willing to help. Adrian’s expression said the same. Jaune felt a pang of guilt. He thought about Terra, taking the remote placement just in case her kids were interested in attending an academy, and Saphron, spending late nights at the dinner table, reworking her budget spreadsheet for the dozenth time to make their monthly contribution to the kids’ education fund. It was so clear they deeply cared about their children, yet they’d entrusted Jaune with their care. And here he was, rejecting their simple pleas to go and play, just because he was a little stressed about work.

Looking into the kids’ eyes, he was reminded of how his dad described him as a kid, asking to hear about how his granddad slayed a Nevermore one more time before going to sleep.

_Maybe this is what I really need right now…_

“Okay, we can go play, but only until it gets dark, alright?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m lowkey curious as to how feasible it would be to try something like this as a parent (ignoring crazy requests like a pet Grimm). It would probably be a good chunk of work, but I think that the kids might trust you more for the few times you couldn’t give them a reason if you’d built up a history of always justifying your actions to them.
> 
> Thanks for commenting/leaving kudos/bookmarking/reading! See you next week!
> 
> \--Linen


	6. Little Lies and Big Results

_A short time later_

“So, how have things been going?”

“Better than I thought they would, to be honest. Your advice has helped a lot.”

Tai let out a nervous chuckle, picking at his fries. The two of them had chosen a local dinner to meet at this time. “Really? Well, I’m glad to hear that my past mishaps have benefitted someone. The kids are doing well?”

“Yeah, they’re great! You haven’t seen them yet, have you? Here, I’ll show you a picture…”

Jaune rustled through his Pumpkin Pete satchel, eventually pulling his scroll out. He tapped on it twice, bringing up his lock screen. The wallpaper showed Jaune kneeling on one knee behind two children, a boy and a girl, with one arm around each of them and a bright grin. Both children had a light brown complexion and black hair; the boy had dark brown eyes, while the girl had blue eyes. They were both smiling. The boy’s expression was more subdued, not unlike Blake’s typical smirk. The girl’s smile, on the other hand, was earnest and wide, reminding Tai of Yang. Both kids were leaning towards Jaune; their body language made it obvious that the cared about him.

The picture brought a soft smile to Tai’s face. The three of them really looked like a family, and he couldn’t help but think back to when Yang and Ruby were younger. He was pretty sure he had a picture back home with the three of them in the exact same pose. “That’s a lovely picture, Jaune. When did you get it taken?”

“This was yesterday! The three of us went to the zoo. We took this right after we saw the big cat exhibit. As you can see, both of them really loved it! It’s a little easier to tell with Julianne, since she takes after Saphron. She really wears her heart on her sleeve. Adrian is more like Terra, so he’s a little more reserved. It took a little more time for him to open up to me. Actually, that kind of brings me to something I wanted to ask you about.”

“Fire away.”

Jaune hesitated before speaking. “How did you support Ruby and Yang when they were just starting out at something? Like, they hadn’t been doing it long enough to improve, but you didn’t want to have to lie to them about how good they were?”

* * *

“Dad! Dad!”

Yang burst into Tai’s study, shattering his focus into pieces. He leaned back from his computer, the paper he was reading forgotten, and turned to face his daughter. He took note of her hands, which were positioned behind her, like they were holding something. She was attempting to hide a smile – not something she’d ever been very good at.

“Hi Yang, what do you need?”

Yang swung her hands out from behind her back, revealing a plate piled high with freshly baked cookies.

“Remember how I said I was going to learn how to make chocolate chip cookies for Ruby, but I messed up the recipe? I gave it another shot! Do you want to try one?”

“Of course, Yang. Thank you.” As he took a cookie from the plate, Tai’s hearted warmed at his older daughter’s thoughtfulness. Summer’s birthday was next week, and Yang, knowing that Ruby tended to struggle around this time of year, had taken it upon herself to learn how to make Summer’s chocolate chip cookies. While Tai usually made them anyways and had offered to help Yang, she’d refused, stating that she ‘wanted to be the best big sister she could be’. Especially knowing that Yang was also affected by Summer’s passing, Tai found himself amazed at the resolve she showed to care for Ruby.

While the gesture itself was admirable, Yang’s past attempt at baking had been…well, suffice to say baking was not Yang’s strong suit, at least at the moment.

Tai took a quick glance at the bottom of the cookie. Very dark brown, but not charred. _It might be a little better than last time…_

A quick glance at Yang’s hopeful face.

He bit into the cookie. 

Dense. Hard. Dry. The chocolate chips had been so overcooked, they were nearly devoid of flavor. No discernible difference from her previous attempt.

“They’ve gotten much better, Yang! I can tell you put a lot of effort into following the recipe more closely.”

Yang smiled from ear to ear. “Really? Here, let me try one!” She grabbed one off the plate, taking a bit quickly. Immediately afterwards, a grimace crossed her face.

“Ew! I don’t think they’re very good, dad. Are you sure that I’ve gotten better?”

Tai eyed the glass of water sitting on his table. But he didn’t take it.

“Of course, sweetie.”

Yang rubbed the back of her neck. “Well, if you say so, I’ll keep trying. I won’t give any to Ruby until I think they taste good, though.” Turning around, she carried the plate back towards the kitchen, shutting the door behind her.

The second the door closed, Tai lunged for the glass of water.

* * *

“Really? Yang’s chocolate chip cookies are incredible, it’s weird to think she could have ever been bad at making them…”

“It took her quite a few tries to get them right. The third time she cooked them, I had to go to the doctor the next day. While she didn’t definitively say I had food poisoning, she advised that I refrain from eating whatever had caused my condition, as it was likely “a hazard to my health’.”

“Did you?”

“What do you think?”

Jaune took a second to think. “No?”

Tai nodded. “I ate two more batches before I had one that I could honestly say I enjoyed eating. One time, I even threw up after she’d gone to her room. But I knew I couldn’t let her see that. Could you imagine the effect that would’ve have on her confidence? Of course, no one’s a baking master when they first start out, and the first few times you might not even improve, since you’re just getting used to things. The most important thing is for them to keep trying.

However, a kid probably doesn’t have the life experience to understand not being good at something initially doesn’t mean you can’t improve with practice. So, you need to build up their confidence until you know they’ll be able to handle direct criticism without being deterred. Up until that point, it’s best to let them be their own worst critics.”

“Right, otherwise they’ll take it personally,” Jaune replied. “My youngest sister, Marie, is a fantastic poet now, but her first few poems certainly weren’t masterpieces. I made the mistake of telling her I thought the grammar could use some work, and she didn’t write anything for two weeks! Even after she got the confidence to start writing poems again, it took another month before she felt comfortable sharing her work with me again. Kids are so impressionable.”

“Ah, so you’ve learnt that lesson already.” Tai smiled. “Why are you asking me for help then?”

“I suppose I just wanted a second opinion,” Jaune said. “Even though things have gone well so far, I’m still not very confident with this. It’s also a rather timely topic; Adrian has been making drawings for a few weeks now. Being honest, he hasn’t improved much for the amount of time he’s been spending on it, even by the standards of someone his age, but I’ve been trying to be supportive regardless. Even though I know it’s the right thing to do, it still helps to hear it from you.

“Don’t worry, it’s natural to feel that way.” Tai’s voice was full of compassion. “Impostor syndrome is something every parent goes through, and I feel like it goes double if you’re on your own. I struggled with it a lot when I was raising Ruby and Yang, and I don’t think it ever really went away. I just had to trust myself. Something I found helpful when I wasn’t sure about a decision was to ask myself, ‘Did I give it my best effort, with what I knew at the time?’ If I could say yes to that, it usually helped me not dwell on things.”

“As for whether or not you’re doing the right thing with Adrian’s art, you definitely are. Just keep supporting him and be patient. It’s all worth it when they succeed.”

* * *

“Uncle Jaune?”

Adrian’s quiet voice echoed through the kitchen, even more timid than usual. Jaune turned around and walked over to him, having just put tonight’s dinner in the oven. He noticed the piece of paper Adrian’s hands, held facing down.

“Hi Adie, whatcha got there?”

“A drawing…”

He hadn’t shown Jaune any of his art in a couple of weeks, so Jaune was curious if he’d improved. Carefully taking the piece of paper from his hands, Jaune flipped it over and examined the drawing on it.

The perspective was much better, the colours more realistic. Adrian had clearly been studying his art fundamentals, likely with the online courses that Velvet had suggested.

But it was the subject of the drawing that caught Jaune’s attention.

“…I’ve been working on this one for a really long time.”

“…”

“Uncle Jaune?”

Jaune felt tears beginning to form at the edges of his eyes. The drawing showed the three of them together at the zoo, just like they’d posed in their picture. Adrian had also drawn Saphron and Terra, kneeling on either side of the trio. Everyone was smiling.

It was titled _My Family_.

“Adrian, this is…. this is amazing. Can I keep it?”

For a second, Jaune caught a glimpse of a smile wider than he’d ever seen on Adrian’s face.

“Yeah. Um…I’m really happy you like it.”

His face had settled back to his typical neutral expression, but Jaune knew that he’d seen how happy Adrian really was about Jaune’s reaction. As he watched Adrian leave the room, he thought about how he’d almost told Adrian that he might want to consider a hobby other than drawing. _I’m so glad I didn’t._

Using a couple of magnets, he put the drawing up on the fridge. _A lovely drawing of our little family…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to update; life got a little messy for me. Things are better now, though! I’ll do my best to keep roughly weekly updates, but it might not be possible every week; I hope you all understand. Trying to force myself to keep up with a schedule was starting to get stressful, and I felt like it was compromising the quality and creativity of my writing, plus I wasn’t really enjoying it. I’m had fun writing this chapter though, and I’m pretty happy with it too! Not having to restrict myself to having all of Tai and Jaune’s conversations happen over a single meeting really helped me come up with ideas for the chapter theme, so I’ll probably switch the setting every few chapters or so.   
> Having confidence in your past decisions can be tricky sometimes, yeah? Tai’s ‘Did I give it my best considering the circumstances?’ is based on my personal strategy for when I find myself dwelling on choices I’ve made in the past. Do you all have any tricks you use for dealing with that sort of thing?  
> Thank you so much for all your support! See you all (hopefully) next week!  
> \--Linen


End file.
